Fiber board having ornamental surfaces



July 8 1924.

J K. SHAW FIBER BOARD HAVING ORNAMEtiTAL SURFACES 2 Sheets-Sheet. 1

Original Filed March gs. 1920 boa f0h72/K6hau; a,

July 8 1924.

J. K. SHAW FIBER BOARD HAVING ORNAMENTAL SURFACES Original Filed March26 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 8, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN K. SHAW, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO G. F. DAHLIBEBG,01' ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

FIBER BOARD HAVING ORNAMENTAL SURFACES.

Application filed March 26, 1920, Serial No. 368,992. Renewed January 9,1923.

in the art to which it appertains to make kinds of fibers have and usethe same.

This invention relates to a fiber board composed of interlaced fiberswith one surface covered with a stone like composition, and has for itsobject to provide a board of this character, which will be moreefficient in action and less expensiveto manufacture than thoseheretofore proposed.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the novelparts and combinations of parts constituting the finished board, all aswill be more fully herein after disclosed and particularly pointed out 1in the claims.

' Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecification in which like numerals designate like parts in all-theviews Figure 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view of an apparatus suitablefor making a fiber board in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the disposition of theindividual fibers during the making of the board, and before reachingthe traveling surface;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 illustrating the action of thetraveling surface upon the individual fibers; and,

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic sectional view of a fiber board made inaccordance with this invention, and before it passes the finishingrolls.

In order that the precise invention may be the more clearly understoodit is said that fiber boards made of aper, and of various n heretoforeproposed, but in so far as I am aware, no one prior to this inventionhas succeeded in providing layers of different kinds of interlacedfibers inthe same board. In this invention, said layers constitute oneintegralmass of fibers interta'ngled' together, and therefore,

the fiber mass is devoid of the separated layers common in prior boardsand which peel, or divide somewhat after the manner of the leaves of abook. Owing to this peeling or separating action, found in prior fiberboards, it has been found that when said boards are covered with a hardcementitious substance to give an ornamental appearance to the board,the outer layers of the latter would, in use, separate and carry thesaid ornamental substance with them, sothat said prior boards have beenfound unsatisfactory.

In this invention, on the other hand, no separated layers exist in thefinished board,

all the layers of fibers being interlaced with each other, andtherefore, when an ornamental cementitious substance like magnesiumoxy-chloride is employed to coat the board, the latter does not peel,and the board can be practically applied to many uses for which theprior boards are unfit, as will appear more fully hereinafter.

1 indicates any suitable tank for holding the stock consisting of waterand cooked fibers, 2 the bottom of said tank, 3 an inclined false bottomlocated above the bottom 2, 4 a roll or drum near the lower end of saidfalse bottom 3, 5 a plurality of supporting rolls, 6 a guide andcompression roll adjustable on the slide, or other movable means 7 8 aguide roll similar to the roll 4, and 9 a guide and tensioning rolladjustable on. the means 10. Passing over the rolls just mentioned isthe endless foraminous belt or surface 11, conveniently made of wirecloth, and having the oppositely moving portions or runs '12 and 13.Between the runs 12 and 13 is located the water outed on the means 28,and 29 an outlet for the water passin through the belt 18, controlled byt e gate and adjustable through the handle 31. 32 and 33 representsuitable water seals made of flexible material for the belts 11 and 18respectively.

35 represents a channel or passage for water and fibers which may bemaintained at any desired hydrostatic head 36, 37 an opening from thechannel 35 into the tank space or chamber 3.8,and 39 a top or parti fromthe rest of the tank. represents a third channel for water and having ahead 46, 47 an opening into the tank chamber or space 48, and 49 apartition coacting with the partition 44 to segregate said space 48 fromthe remainder of the tank.

The foregoing construction is, or may be the same as is described andclaimed in my copendin application. Serial Number 368,- 990, filedaarch26, 1920, and entitled, Process of and apparatus for making fiberboards,

The operation of this machine will be, understood from what follows Itis referred to use long fibers, but of course, fibers of any usuallength may be employed. By reason of the direction of flow of the waterthrough the chambers 38, 43, and 48, and by reason of thenatural'tendency of the flowing water to laterally separate said fibers,the latter will be brought into positions more or less parallel to eachother, and more or less erpendicular to the line of travel of the surace 13, while at the same time all of said fibers will occupy positionsmore or less staggered with relation to their neighbors as shown.Accordingly, a large'percentage of the forward ends 61 of "said fiberswill first contact with said surface 13, and will be carried along'bythe belt 'from the positions shown in Figure 2, to

those shown in Figure 3, for the rear ends 62 of said fibers will havelagged behind the front ends 61, in the water, so that the front row of.said fibers assume a somewhat curved or bent shape. The second row, orthose fibers 63 immediately following, and which. have not reached thesurface 13, but have reached the rear ends 62 of the fibers 60, are nowforced by the oncoming water to contact at their forward ends againstthe curved fibers 60. And, as said fibers 63, originally, due to theirparallel positions, as shown at 63 in Figure 2, were more or less red orinterlaced with thefibers before the latter became curved it is evidentthat this interlacing or entang action between the fibers 60 and 63 willbe enhanced or increased by the oncoming water after said curvaturetakes place. I

It results from the actions just described that said fibers 63 become,themselves, more or lesscurved, as indicated in Figure 3, due to thetransverse movement of the fibers 60, and that a third row of fibers 64which are also interlaced or staggered with the fibers 63 will become intime curved and entangled with the fibers 60 and 63 that have precededsaid fibers 64. It thus results that owing to the floating of the fibersinto' parallel, inter-.

laced or staggered positions, and in a direction transverse to thetraveling surface 13, the entanglement of the fibers is continuousbetween successive rows; and the pressure of the water causes the wholeto. be very loosely assembled in their interlaced posi tions on saidsurface, thus forming an opei mass of fibers more compact next to thewire than awa from it. This mass is carried through t e opening into thespace 43, with one or more partially curved and artia y 60 and 63, clito 1t.

In said chamfi and entangled with the layers on the belt, and theprocess ofentanglement and massing proceeds as before. In the meantime,other layers of fibers, in all respects similar to the layers 60," 63and 64, are interlaced, entangle and massed on the traveling belt 18from the space or chamber 48. This second mam of opening 71 by the belt18, in a condition s1milar to the first mentioned mass that passes theopening 70, and the fibers in the space 43 interlace, and becomeentangled with said second mass in a manner similar to that described inconnection with said first mentioned mass. The result is, owing to theseparallel and staggered relations, the fibers in the s ace 43, constitutea third mass of fibers whic are interlaced and entangled with eachother, as well as with'each' of said first named masses.

As a result of the foregoing entanglements of the various fibers, andthe motion of the surfaces 13 and 18, the mass of fibers are carriedthrough-the opening 75 between the compression or compacting ,rolls 6and 25, andis formed into the sheet or board 76, all as will be readilyunderstood.

An important feature of this invention .resides not-only in being ableto thusinterentangled laye1s, similar to the fi rs r or space 43, otherfibers similar to the fibers 64 become interlaced fibers are carriedthrough the That is to say, I may feed to the channel 35, onekind offibers, which may be relativel short or more pensive fibers, than areose' fed to the cha e1 40, and I may feed to the channel 45, the sameclass of fibers as are fed to the channel 35, or I may feed a totallydifferent class of fibers. In other words, I may provide as manychannels 35, 40 and 4.5 as there are different characters of fibers inthe finished board, and I may place in the first channel 35 and in thelast channel 45 any characters of fibers I desire, whereupon the boardwill be provided with an outer layer 77 corresponding to the fibers thatare fed to the channel 35, with another outer layer 78 corresponding tothe fibers that are fed to the channel 45, and with one or moreintermediate layers 79 corresponding to the character of the fiberswhich are fed to the channel 40 and to any other channels which may belocated intermediate of the channels 35 and 45.

But, the important feature to be emphasizedin this invention is the factthat no matter how many kinds of fibers, or how many layers of fibersthat are present in the finished board, the fibers of each layer will beinterlaced or entangled with the fibers of its adjacent layer, so thatthe board will not consist of separate and distinct layers, as is commonin ordinary fiber boards, and somewhat like the leaves of a book thatcan be peeled off, but its body portion will consist of fibers that arefirmly interwoven, and its outer layers will be firmly interwoven withsaid body portion.

The interlacing process is facilitated by the fact that the openings 37,42, and 4:7 are of a less area than are the spaces 38,

$3, and 48 into which the fibers are led. In other words, the fibersmust first pass through the openings at a relatively .high velocity andin a comparatively close relation to each other; and they are thenimmediately released into a wider space where they take on a lesservelocity, and naturally spread'out as they pass along with the water,thus assuming the parallel relations indicated in Figure 2.

I further prefer to permit a very large proportion of the water, say 90%of the same, to escape through the opening while a very muchsmallerproportion, say 10%, escapes through the opening 29. 1

The gates 16 and are conveniently manipulated to 'etfect'this divisionof the water, while maintaining the desired proper steady flow throughthe surfaces 13 and 18 to produce the desired results. But, of course,the proportions of water that escape through the two openings mentionedmay be widely varied according to the results sought in thefinishedboard.

4 The rolls 6 and 25 are readily adjusted by the means illustrated toproduce any desired compression in the openings 75 between said rolls,so that the fiber board may be given any desired degree-of porosity. In

fact, by using relatively large fibers in the channel 40, and relativelyfine fibers in the channels and 45, I am enabled to control the airspaces in the body of the board, and thereby control its heat insulatingqualities.

The heads 36,41 and 46-of the liquid in the channels 35, 40 and are somaintained that there will be a minimum tendency of liquid to flowbetween the chambers or spaces 38, 43 and 48. In other words, the

pressures of the liquid in the last mentioned chambers are maintained asnearly equal as possible and thus a minimum tendency of the fibers tomix in the said'interlaced spaces is. secured.

From the foregoing it will be clear that my board is devoid of layersthat will peel OE, and is readily provided with any desired characterofmiddle fibers 79 and any desired character ofouter fibers 77 and 78.

I prefer, in carrying out this invention, to

pass the board between the finishing rolls and 86 operated by anysuitable means, such as the belt 87, operating the pulley 88, fast onthe'shaft 89, carrying the roll 86, and the pulley 90, also fast on theshaft 89, around which passes the belt 91 driving the pulley 92, rigidwith the shaft 95 on which is mounted the roll 85. Said rolls 85 and 86are adjusted to and from each other by any suitable means, as indicatedby the dotted lines 96, so that any degree of compression may be exertedon the board. The

pulley 92 is of a different diameter from the pulley 90 so that the roll85 will run at a difi'erent angular speed from the gear 86.

97 represents any suitable supply of a cementitious substance 100, such.for ex ample, as the oxy-chlorides of magnesium, and said substanceunder the control of the means 98 ispermitted to How on to the nel 45,and to add said cementitious sub;

stance to the water therein, in which case the layer 78 will beimpregnated with said substance and the stream 100, or layer 99, willtake a deeper hold on the board, but in most cases, a fire proofing, ora waterproofing compound will be used in one or both of the channels 35and 45.

The fiber boards made as above will have ornamental stone like surfaceswhich are readily set by adding sugar to the composition,- and are'readily colored, by 'known processes, to imitate different kinds ofnatural stones, and they are useful as wall coverings, panels, tiles,wainscoatings, and in a host of other places where artificialstone isnow used. Such boards have a high heat insulating value, not found inartificial stone, and this value may be readil increased by increasingthe size of the bers in the channel 40, so as to increase the size ofthe air cells in the layer 7 6 of the finished I 6 board.

1. A fiber board composed of a body por-- tion of one kind of fiberinterlaced with another kind of fiber covering said body portion; and asurface portion covered with a hard stone like composition having anornamental surface, substantially as described.

2. The process of making an ornamental heat insulating panel whichconsists in providing a fiber board made of different kinds of fibersinterlaced with each other and covering the same on one side with acomposition containin ma esium o -chloride, substantially as descr ibed,Xy

3. A fiber board composed of a body portion of relatively coarse fibers,surface .portions of relatively fine fibers interlaced with said coarsefibers, and-one of said surface portions covered with a cementitiousmaterial having an ornamental surface, substantially as described. a 4.The process of making an ornamental heat insulating-wall coveringmaterial which consists in forming a layer of interlaced fibers of onekind; a layer of interlaced fibers of another kind interlaced with saidfirst mentioned fibers, and having higher heat insulating propertiesthan said first layer; and coating one of said layers with acementitious material having an ornamental surface, substantiall asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I a my signature.

JOHN K. SHAW.

